Heather Watts

Who is Heather Watts?

Heather Watts was a principal ballerina with New York City Ballet. A native of California, Ms. Watts was born as Linda Heather Watts in Long Beach on September 27, 1953. As a little girl, she had always wanted to be an actress. An acting coach advised her taking ballet classes. She started dancing at the age of 10, came to New York at the age of 13 on a Ford Foundation summer scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet. She moved permanently to New York at age 15, again on a Ford Foundation scholarship to the School of American Ballet. Watts joined the New York City Ballet in 1970 and was promoted to principal dancer by company founder George Balanchine in 1979. George Balanchine took Watts into his companies "because he would not let such a talent disappear." During Ms. Watts's tenure with the company, she had numerous principal roles created for her by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins among others. Mr. Balanchine gave Ms. Watts the principal roles in many of his existing masterpieces, including Agon, Concerto Barocco, Apollo, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations and Serenade. Ms. Watts performed around the world and starred in numerous Dance in America television programs, and she performed opposite frequent partner Mikhail Baryshnikov at the White House in a national televised performance of Balanchine's Rubies for President and Mrs. Carter. Ms. Watts retired from the stage in a gala performance at Lincoln Center in 1995.